France pension strike over retirement age snarls nation
- President Emmanuel Macron wants to raise minimum retirement age, partly to fund transition to greener economy
- Unions urging more people to take part in strikes, saying low-skilled workers and women would be disproportionately affected by government’s planned measures
Fuel deliveries and public transport were severely disrupted in France on Tuesday as unions kicked off a fresh day of protest against a pensions reform that would push back the retirement age for millions.
Unions have vowed to bring the country to a standstill with strikes over the proposed changes, which include raising the minimum retirement age to 64 from 62 and increasing the number of years people have to make contributions for a full pension.
“We mustn’t give up, it’s possible to make the government withdraw on 64 years,” CFDT union chief Laurent Berger told broadcaster LCI, forecasting “more people” on the streets and warning of future actions if workers’ demands were not heard.
Police expect 1.1 million to 1.4 million people to hit the streets on Tuesday in more than 260 locations nationwide, a source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
President Emmanuel Macron put the pensions plan at the centre of his re-election campaign last year.
But he faces fierce resistance from both parliament and the public, with almost two in three people supporting protests against the reforms, according to a poll by the Elabe survey group published on Monday.
Ali Toure, a 28-year-old construction worker, was waiting on Tuesday morning for a delayed train near Paris but said it was “no big deal” if he arrived late to work for a month. “They’re right to be striking. Manual labour is hard,” he said.
The hard-line CGT union said fuel deliveries from refineries across France had been blocked from Tuesday morning, which could see petrol stations running short if the protests continue.
Tuesday is the sixth day of protests. Only one-in-five high-speed trains was expected to run, with a third of international Eurostar and (train operator) Thalys services cut. Air France expected to operate eight out of 10 short- and medium-haul flights.
Paris subway and commuter train schedules were to be severely impacted, according to operator RATP, which urged people to work from home if possible. Walkouts in the energy sector began days ago, hitting nuclear power production at utility Electricite de France SA.
Labour unions have been calling for a surge in the number of people taking part in strikes and protest marches after participation dropped significantly in February from a peak of 1.27 million on January 31, according to government figures.
The government says that raising the minimum retirement age is necessary to keep public finances sound while funding other priorities such as the green transition.
Unions argue that the proposed measures are unfair and would disproportionately affect low-skilled workers who start their careers early, as well as women.
“You don’t launch a pension reform lightly,” French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Monday. “My responsibility is to guarantee the future of our pension system.”
She said that while she respected the right to protest, a nationwide standstill would primarily penalise “the most fragile” among the population.
The legislation is being reviewed by the Senate until March 12. The goal is for it to come into effect in September.
Macron’s determination to push through the reform despite public opposition is set against a backdrop of mounting concern over inflation. Consumer prices in France jumped by a euro-era record of 7.2 per cent in February from a year ago as food and services costs increased.
“There’s of course never a good moment to carry out a pension reform, but some times are worse than others, and this is a particularly bad one,” said Bernard Sananes, president of pollster Elabe. “The pension reform is adding a layer of difficulty to those whose daily life is already difficult, and this is what the government underestimated.”
On Monday, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire unveiled a deal with retailers in which they agreed to take a hit to their margins amounting to several hundred million euros by offering the lowest possible prices for essential food items during a three-month campaign to help households.
As for the impact of the strikes on the French economy, it should not be overestimated, according to Charlotte de Montpellier, ING senior economist for France and Switzerland.
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“Disruptions have been, for now, limited to some very specific sectors, such as transport,” she wrote. “Given the development of home working since the pandemic, it is likely that the indirect costs of transport disruptions on other sectors of activity will be much more limited than in previous strikes.”
The hit to economic growth could become quantifiable if the protests intensify drastically and some sectors are blocked for several weeks, she said, although an impact greater than 0.2 percentage points seems very unlikely.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
